Date: February 18, 2011

A man who kidnapped a woman in a carjacking incident in 2009 is facing a state prison sentence of 30 years to life after changing his plea Thursday in a Placer County courtroom.

Rick Anthony Cooley, 32, a Sacramento resident and three-strike offender, entered a plea of no contest to a felony count of kidnapping during the commission of a carjacking. He also admitted to special allegations that he had committed prior serious or violent felonies for which he served prison time.

Superior Court Judge Colleen Nichols accepted the plea and set Cooley’s sentencing for March 17.

The incident occurred on Nov. 12, 2009, when a woman who was driving to work was struck from behind by another vehicle on Vineyard Road west of Roseville.

When she got out to exchange information, the other driver, identified as Cooley, punched her in the face and forced her back into her car. He then drove her car, leaving his own vehicle on the roadside with the engine running.

Prosecutor Doug Van Breemen of the Placer County District Attorney’s Office said Cooley drove around for about four hours before returning to an area near the original crime scene and releasing the woman.

The victim contacted a local resident, who then called the Placer County Sheriff’s Office. Cooley was arrested later that day, Van Breemen said.